The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2016 to Question 26829, what the job titles are of those people in receipt of travel expenses, paid car allowances or subsidised health insurance.
Justin Tomlinson
The information about job titles is not held.
DWP expenses are paid in line with the Civil Service Management Code.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the potential costs and benefits of introducing an import tax on coal and gas imported from outside the EU; and if he will make a statement.
Anna Soubry
The UK is part of the EU Single market which has a common EU tariff policy which applies to all imports. Import tariffs are set by the EU. The UK has no legal ability to set its own import tariffs.
EU tariffs rates form part of our World Trade Organisation (WTO) commitments and apply to all WTO member countries. Under WTO rules increases to EU tariffs above the level committed to, or ‘bound’ rate, require us to give compensation to affected countries (in the form of lower tariffs on other products). Any potential benefit of an import tariff increase may therefore harm another UK sector.
The latest version of the EU tariff was published in Official Journal to the EU L285 on 30 October 2015 (Council implementing Regulation EU No 1101/2014 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC|) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff). Chapter 27 covers the import of fuel including coal and gas. The import of coal has a 0% import duty and the import of gas ranges from 0% to 8% depending on the type and usage.
WTO rules, do however allow countries to impose import tariffs when goods are being “dumped” e.g. sold on our market at below manufacturing cost price. If there is evidence that imports of coal and gas are being dumped the European Commission could propose imposing anti-dumping duties.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-04-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on which religious occasions prisoners are eligible for release on temporary licence; and how many prisoners were released on each such occasion in the last year for which information is held.
Andrew Selous
Faith communities can play a significant part in supporting offenders to resettle into the community. Facilities for worship are available in each establishment but, as part of restoring links between the offender and wider community, suitable, risk-assessed offenders may attend worship outside the prison to help them adjust to the climate of non-prison worship and mixing with the community. In addition, temporary release for the purpose of maintaining family ties might be timed so as to coincide with religious occasions. There is no prescription as to the nature of the religious occasion; it is for the governor, on the advice of the temporary release board, to decide whether the activity is linked to the offender’s resettlement plan.
Records show that, in 2015, prisoners were released on temporary licence specifically in order to attend a religious service on 90 occasions.
Releases on temporary licence (ROTL) recorded as "attend religious service", 2011-2015, England & Wales
|
Attend religious service |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
|
Incidences of ROTL |
231 |
217 |
139 |
228 |
90 |
NB. This is number of occasions a prisoner was released, not number of prisoners released.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-05-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the number of people who have had their application for asylum refused but cannot legally be returned to their country of origin.
James Brokenshire
The government expects those who have been refused asylum and who have no lawful basis to remain in the UK to leave at the earliest opportunity. If there is a genuine obstacle that prevents a failed asylum seeker’s departure from the UK and they are destitute, they can apply for support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. As of 31 December 2015, a total of 3,821 failed asylum seekers and their dependants were supported under section 4.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-05-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Active Movement programme implemented by Public Health Berkshire; and if she will roll that programme out to other parts of the country.
Edward Timpson
We want all pupils to be healthy and active and we welcome schemes such as Active Movement, which encourage pupils to participate more in physical activity. However, there are currently no plans to assess or roll out the Active Movement programme to all schools. This Government gives schools the freedom to choose how to use the primary PE and sport premium to improve their PE and sport provision. PE remains a compulsory subject at all four key stages in the national curriculum. The national curriculum sets out the expectation that pupils should be physically active for sustained periods of time.
Through the primary PE and sport premium, the Government has provided over £450 million of ring-fenced funding to primary schools to improve PE and sport[1]. As announced in the 2016 Budget, revenue from the soft drinks industry levy will be used to double the primary PE and sport premium to £320 million a year from September 2017, enabling them to further improve the quality and breadth of PE and sport they offer.
This is part of a wider government commitment to cut obesity rates; linking in to work across Whitehall, including DCMS’ recent Sports Strategy and DH’s forthcoming Childhood Obesity Strategy (expected to be launched in summer 2016).
[1] Across the academic years 2013/14 to 2015/16.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential trends in the cost of tuition fees to students over the next 10 years.
Joseph Johnson
The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) will allow institutions offering high quality teaching to access tuition fees up to an RPI(X) inflation linked maximum fee cap.
Students on courses starting from August 2017 will be affected if the successful institutions choose to increase their fees towards the higher fee cap. These students will not be affected in real terms as tuition fees will not increase by more than inflation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-09-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers in secondary schools are teaching subjects in which they do not have (a) a degree, (b) an A-Level and (c) an O-Level or GCSE at grade C or above for each subject taught.
Nick Gibb
The information is not available in the format requested.
The Department publishes statistics which show the proportion of teachers teaching subjects in which they have a relevant post-A Level qualification in state funded secondary schools in England. The latest statistics are provided in Table 12 of the statistical first release ‘School Workforce in England, November 2015’, which is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2015
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-09-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) tutors and (b) students in higher education institutions was (i) male and (ii) female in each of the last 10 years.
Joseph Johnson
Information on students and the workforce at UK higher education institutions is collected and published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency. Statistics on student enrolments by gender have been provided in Table 1, and on academic staff with teaching functions by gender in Table 2.
Table 1: Proportion of Higher Education enrolments by gender
UK Higher Education Institutions
Academic years 2005/06 to 2014/15
|
Academic Year |
Female |
Male |
|
2005/2006 |
57% |
43% |
|
2006/2007 |
57% |
43% |
|
2007/2008 |
57% |
43% |
|
2008/2009 |
57% |
43% |
|
2009/2010 |
57% |
43% |
|
2010/2011 |
56% |
44% |
|
2011/2012 |
56% |
44% |
|
2012/2013 |
56% |
44% |
|
2013/2014 |
56% |
44% |
|
2014/2015 |
56% |
44% |
Source: Information is derived from the Higher Education Statistics Agency Student Record
Coverage:
– Includes students across all years of study, at all levels and modes of higher education and distance learners
– Figures include students of all domiciles.
Table 2: Proportion of Academic Staff with Teaching Functions by gender
UK Higher Education Institutions
Academic Years 2005/06 to 2014/15
|
Female |
Male |
|
|
2005/2006 |
40% |
60% |
|
2006/2007 |
41% |
59% |
|
2007/2008 |
41% |
59% |
|
2008/2009 |
42% |
58% |
|
2009/2010 |
43% |
57% |
|
2010/2011 |
44% |
56% |
|
2011/2012 |
44% |
56% |
|
2012/2013 |
44% |
56% |
|
2013/2014 |
44% |
56% |
|
2014/2015 |
44% |
56% |
Source: Information is derived from the Higher Education Statistics Agency Staff Record
Coverage:
– Members of academic staff who have the following academic employment functions: teaching only, teaching and research
– Percentages based on headcount of members of academic staff across all modes of working
– Atypical members of staff are not included. Atypical staff are those members of staff whose contracts involve working arrangements that are not permanent, involve complex employment relationships and/or involve work away from the supervision of the normal work provider.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library a copy of (a) the grant application received from Action on Smoking and Health in May 2011 and (b) the revised grant application received from that organisation in June 2011.
Jane Ellison
The 2011/12 Grant Award letter to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) set out the agreed objectives for the grant. The 2011/12 Grant Award letter has already been placed in the Library. Earlier drafts of applications for grant funding and additional supporting material are not published.
It is normal practice for Departmental officials to discuss grant applications with the applicant. The application process is iterative to ensure the final objectives are in line with Departmental aims. A record of these discussions in 2011 is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-10-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons officials in his Department had discussions with Action on Smoking and Health on its grant application in June 2011; if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes and notes from those discussions; and what action was taken as a result of those discussions.
Jane Ellison
The 2011/12 Grant Award letter to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) set out the agreed objectives for the grant. The 2011/12 Grant Award letter has already been placed in the Library. Earlier drafts of applications for grant funding and additional supporting material are not published.
It is normal practice for Departmental officials to discuss grant applications with the applicant. The application process is iterative to ensure the final objectives are in line with Departmental aims. A record of these discussions in 2011 is not available.